Training · Group Next Steps
Baptism
What baptism is, why the group’s part in it matters, and what to do when somebody in your group is ready
Baptism is how a person makes a public declaration about their faith.
When somebody in your group takes that step and the group is there for it, it does something to the whole group. Not just to the person in the water. That moment is one of the most powerful things that can happen in a season together.
Your part in it
You are not the one who decides whether somebody is ready. You are the one who makes it a normal thing to talk about.
Most people who have not been baptized are not resisting it. They have questions they have never had a safe place to ask, or they think there is a bar they have not cleared yet. Both of those dissolve in a room where other people are telling their stories.
Run the Baptism Conversation after a baptism weekend. Let the people who have done it talk about what held them back and what surprised them. Those stories do more than any explanation you could give.
When somebody is ready
Connect them with the Care Team. They handle baptisms at Hoboken Grace and they would love to walk somebody through it.
When you get a question you cannot answer
Write it down and pass it to your coach or the Care Team. That is a better outcome than an answer you are not sure about, and nobody expects you to be the expert.
TODO(nick): The old Toolbox linked two baptism guides, one written for the leader and
one to send to a group member, plus a What is Baptism class signup. What are the current URLs?